About me

This blogname was derived from a satiric Arabic novel by the Palestinian Israeli Emile Habiby. In the ''The Secret Life of Saeed The Pessoptimist'' he uses absurdism as a weapon against the (ir)realities of daily life in Palestine/Israel. I consider it to be an example for how events in Israel/{Palestine best can be approached.
The subtitle is from a book by Dutch author Renate Rubinstein. In a way that is also still my motto.
My real name is Martin (Maarten Jan) Hijmans. I've been covering the ME since 1977 and have been a correspondent in Cairo. In 2018, I concluded the study 'Arabic language and culture' at the University of Amsterdam.
I started 'Abu Pessoptimist' in January 2009 out of anger about the onslaught of that month in Gaza. The other blog, The Pessoptmist, is meant to be a sister version in English. (En voor de Nederlandstaligen: ik wilde in november 2009 een tweede blog in het Engels beginnen en ontdekte te laat dat als je één account hebt, een profiel dan meteen ook voor allebei de blogs geldt. Vandaar dat het nu ineens in het Engels is... So sorry.)

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Egyptian authorities have hanged 15 men at two prisons in the north of the country, as part of a controversial policy.The men were convicted for attacks committed in 2013 against the Egyptian military in the Sinai Peninsula, that resulted in the deaths of soldiers and the destruction of vehicles.
The executed men were assumed to have carried out the deadly operations as part of the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS).
"These death sentences and executions are a flagrant breach of international law. Trials in Egypt routinely fail to meet basic fair trial standards, and this is especially so in mass trials and military tribunals - as in this case," Maya Foa, director of international human rights organisation Reprieve, said in a statement delivered to Al Jazeera.

Monday, December 4, 2017

Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been killed in fighting with the
Iran-aligned Houthi militia raging in the Yemeni capital Sanaa,
Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television said on Monday, quoting sources in Saleh’s party.
Al Arabiya quoted a source in Saleh’s General Peoples Congress as saying
he was killed by sniper bullets. A Houthi video distributed on social
media showed what appeared to be Saleh’s body, clad in grey clothes and
being carried out on a red blanket. The side of his head bore a deep
wound.

The radio station of the Houthi-run Yemeni Interior Ministry first
reported Saleh’s death but his party quickly denied this to Reuters,
saying he was still leading his forces in Sanaa.

Earlier on Monday, Houthi forces blew up Saleh’s
house in Sanaa and came under aerial attack by Saudi-led coalition
warplanes for a second day, residents said.

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Israel has been accused by the Syrian government of launching an
aerial attack against a military airport near to the capital, Damascus,
early on Saturday morning.
The official news agency, Sana, said several projectiles were
launched by Israeli war planes at the Mezzeh military airport which sits
to the west of Damascus. The base is the headquarters of the Syrian 1st
Division.
Syrian air defences intercepted at least two Israeli missiles but the
attack still caused a fire to break out at the airport, resulting in
"material damage", Sana said. The agency did not say whether there had
been any casualties.
The Syrian regime warned Israel against unspecified repercussions in retaliation.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the missile
attack was likely carried out by the Israeli military and targeted
several government military bases in Al Kiswah on the southwest
outskirts of Damascus.